ICE Drastically Expands Use Of Ankle Monitors To Track Immigrants

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has ordered a sharp increase in the use of GPS-enabled ankle monitors for migrants in its Alternatives to Detention (ATD) program, according to a June 9 internal memo reviewed by The Washington Post. The memo directs officers to fit ankle monitors on ATD participants “whenever possible,” expanding surveillance under the Trump administration.

Roughly 183,000 migrants are currently enrolled in ATD, a program that allows them to remain out of detention while awaiting immigration hearings, according to the Washington Post. Until now, only about 24,000 wore ankle monitors. Most others used a mobile app or checked in with case managers. The memo exempts pregnant women from ankle bracelets, requiring wrist-worn devices instead.

“If the alien is not being arrested at the time of reporting, escalate their supervision level to GPS ankle monitors whenever possible and increase reporting requirements,” wrote acting assistant director Dawnisha M. Helland.

The change significantly broadens a surveillance practice ICE has used for two decades. While cheaper than detention, ankle monitors have long been criticized as stigmatizing, invasive, and physically painful.

“This will be a tool used to extend the reach of the government from just the folks it can manage to put in physical detention to an additional hundreds of thousands more that it can surveil,” said Laura Rivera of Just Futures. “It’s designed to turn their own communities and homes into digital cages.”

ICE spokeswoman Emily Covington defended ankle monitors as an “enforcement tool” to ensure compliance, adding, “More accountability shouldn’t come as a surprise.” She said decisions are still made case by case.

In practice, however, compliant migrants are increasingly being subjected to stricter monitoring without explanation. “Why are people any more of a flight risk now?” asked immigration attorney Annelise Araujo. “People who have lived in the same community, in the same home, in the same job for 20 years?”

WaPo reports that the expansion benefits private prison giant Geo Group, whose subsidiary BI Inc. runs the ATD program. Geo, which donated over $1.5 million to Trump’s campaign and inaugural committee, manufactures the monitors and employs case managers.

Geo CEO David Donahue told investors in May, “We are very well positioned” to scale up monitoring. Each monitored migrant generates $3.70 in revenue per day—potentially hundreds of millions annually.

Although ICE recently extended BI’s contract without competitive bidding, internal sources say the agency is now looking for additional vendors amid concerns BI cannot meet demand. Many monitors are old or recycled, and case managers are already stretched, with some overseeing up to 300 individuals.

Tom Homan, Trump’s former border czar and one-time consultant to Geo, is one of several officials with ties to both ICE and its contractors. A White House spokesperson said Homan recuses himself from contract discussions.

In Virginia, dozens of migrants recently waited in ICE offices to be fitted with monitors. “Everybody in here needs to either wear hardware or be detained,” one ICE official told immigration lawyer Megan Brody.

According to the American Immigration Council, 83% of non-detained migrants attended all court hearings from 2008 to 2018. Yet the ankle monitor is the only ATD tracking method that’s increased under Trump, with 4,165 added since January.

ICE says it considers factors like criminal record, compliance history, and caregiving responsibilities in assigning tracking methods. However, many say they are placed under surveillance without justification and not moved to less restrictive options even after proving reliability.

ICE may soon broaden ATD to include more types of devices and tech, depending on what it can purchase quickly. Covington declined to comment on those plans.